Never going home
by Franbunanza
Summary: Things go differently for Charlotte. Charladay *finished*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff.

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The sun beamed down relentlessly over the dock. A rabble of people from all walks of life busied themselves with loading countless amounts of trunks, filled no doubt with all sorts of peculiar equipment.

Charlotte Staples Lewis paid them no attention as she worked on re-applying her sun cream. Being fare was a nuisance but she wasn't one to let it stop her from jetting of to exotic destinations when the situation called for it, and in her line of work the situation called for it more often then not. She peered out from beneath her hat to watch a frantic man nervously instruct a pair of rather brutish deck hands.

"Please, just be careful with that trunk!" The deck hands ignored this request and heaved the trunk up on to the freighter, bumping it slightly as they went.

The man caught her interest, he was unlike any of the other passengers she had watched board. She was beginning to worry that she was going to be stuck with nothing but the ocean and a bunch of arrogant louts surrounding her. She continued to watch as he heaved a sigh and ran his hands through his dark hair.

"You want to watch them, they dropped the bag with my books in over board earlier." She called out to him in an attempt to catch his attention as she clicked shut the lid on her sun cream.

He looked at her and then back to his trunk with panic in his eyes.

"Calm down, I'm only teasing you. Trust me if they had dunked my books they would have been thrown in afterwards." a smirk erupted across her lips, she pushed her self off of the stack of trunks she had been sitting on and approached him, her hand stretched out in front of her.

"I'm Charlotte."

"Ah, the anthropologist, right?" he took her hand and shook it, he made no effort to hide the fact he was sizing her up. He glanced from her boots to her hat, pausing momentarily on her freckled nose.

"That's correct, and you are?"

"Daniel, Daniel Faraday, Uh… Naomi was looking for you, she wants us up on the deck." he pointed his fingers up towards the freighter.

"Does she now? Bossy little madam isn't she? Come along we best not keep her waiting."

Daniel followed as they crossed the gang plank together.

Naomi was busy talking to a disinterested looking man, they waited patiently near a life boat.

"So, um, are you looking forward to this…voyage?" he asked giving Charlotte a sideways glance.

A smile broke out across her face, "You could say that."

"How much do you know about this place, the place we are going to I mean?" he asked, not meeting her eyes.

"Probably more than anyone else on this boat." she scoffed.

Daniel raised his eyebrows, " That's quite a claim to make."

He leant against the railing and met her gaze, challenging her to back up her statement with an intrigued smile.

Charlotte scanned the perimeter, after she was sure no one was watching she delved into her shoulder bag and removed a box.

"Now, you are a very lucky boy, only a select few have been allowed to see this."

His interest had been peaked. He stood up straight and moved closer, placing a hand on her shoulder to shield whatever it was from anyone who might happen to glance over. Charlotte glanced at his hand, slightly uncomfortable with a stranger encroaching on her personal space, then again she was about to show him her most precious possession so she let it slide.

Her eyes flickered up so she could observe his reaction, She lifted the lid and revealed the artefact.

"That is a Dharma Initiative logo." he stated in a whisper.

Charlotte's jaw dropped slightly, "You know about the Initiative?" her tone also hushed.

Daniel gave a slight nod and jerked his head to the side slightly, "Let's just say I am aware of some of their work."

She had to admit that she was both slightly disappointed and thoroughly excited by his reaction, she had expected confusion but found that she was pleased she did not receive it.

"Where…? Where did you come across this exactly?"

The anthropologist paused for a moment, she had become some what accustomed to keeping her thoughts and findings concerning the island to herself, as to avoid ridicule and reprimand from her colleagues and family. Of course, she never let them know that it bothered her.

"Tunisia, and the _really_ fascinating part is that I found it with the remains of a Ursus maritimus" she bit her lip to conceal her delight.

"A polar bear? In Tunisia?" his tone was one of fascination and not scepticism.

She shut the box and slid it back into her bag, "Hm, perhaps this journey will be rather more enjoyable than I had first anticipated. You see I had feared that I would be trapped on this boat with a bunch of brainless brutes." she nodded her head in the direction of the group of bulky men standing near to the helicopter.

"I can see your logic," they shared a slight laugh.

"Now I find myself looking forward to some…stimulating conversation."

Daniel's eyes moved slowly sideways from the helicopter he had fixed them on to lock with Charlotte's. His eyebrow raised, causing Charlotte to smile inspite of herself.

"Charlotte, I'm Naomi Dorrit." Naomi and the man she had been talking too joined them.

"Nice to meet you."

"This is Miles Straum and you've met Daniel already, you'll be working as a team under my orders, alright?"

Daniel and Charlotte exchanged a quick unnoticed glance and gave affirmative answers.

Miles gave them a nod and a murmured "Hi" in greeting and wandered off.

"Apparently there's been a call for you. Now would be the best time to see to it, we'll be leaving soon and we don't need you holding us up." with that she swept off to supervise the last of the loading.

"Well she's charming, best go and take that call." Charlotte rolled her eyes and was led away to the communication room.

Daniel took out his journal and began to make notes about what she had just shown him, Widmore must have really done his research when assembling this team.

Charlotte returned about five minutes later. She looked pale and frightened, her eyes were wide.

"Are you alright?" he inquired.

She inhaled through her nose, her brow was furrowed. She seemed to be struggling with an inner turmoil, "Uh, change of plan, I need to go back to England, right away."

"Why? I thought you really wanted to go?"

"I did, I do! Something has happened and I…I just can't." she seemed to be in a mild state of shock. She shook it off and stared him straight in his eyes. A look of fixed determination in her unique eyes "So, here's what's going to happen. I shall give you my phone number and you will ring me the moment you get back, okay?"

She took his journal and jotted down a phone number in a spare corner, "I have a lot of questions that need answering. Would you do that for me?"

"Yeah, no problem." he was a little confused, but she was pretty and clever he wasn't about to turn down her phone number.

"It was nice meeting you, I sincerely mean that." she gave a worried smile and departed.

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A/N: Please excuse any inconsistencies and dodgy science, i'm just writing for the fun of it :D, please leave a reveiw if you want X


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the story watching, and to anyone who read. It's nice of you XxX, and i always appreciate reviews :D

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Charlotte dashed along the sterile hallways, her eyes desperately searching for a familiar face. Her body ached with the jet lag but she thundered onwards. She found the room she had been looking for and stood outside for a moment to try to catch her breath and regain her composure. The phone call had been vague, all she knew was that an incident had occurred and her mother had fallen into a coma. Her hand trembled as she reached out to turn the door knob.

The door swung open and she was greeted by an empty bed, around it stood her two sisters, her father and her grandfather.

The family remained deathly silent. Eventually her grandfather stood up, placed a hand on her arm and told her that she was too late. Her mother had died half an hour prior to her arrival.

"What happened? Was there an accident?" Charlotte sunk down on to the edge of the bed, her blood felt cold inside her veins.

Catherine, the elder of her two younger sisters shook her head, "No, no there wasn't."

Charlotte looked to the youngest sister, she was crying silently and would not meet her sisters eyes.

"Charlotte, your mother took an overdose." sighed her father, he took of his glasses and rubbed his swollen eyes.

"What!? No, no I don't believe that, we'll have to wait for the autopsy results!" she shook her head furiously refusing to believe what they were saying.

"There isn't going to be an autopsy, we found her with an empty box of tablets and…this note."

She struggled to swallow the lump in her throat, she turned her face away and let the tears she had been holding back fall, wiping them away quickly she demanded to see the note.

"I don't think that's a good idea." intervened her grandfather.

"Let me see it!"

The note was reluctantly handed over, Catherine kept an icy gaze on her sister as she unfolded the delicate note.

It read _"I'm sorry, I failed. I couldn't stop her, I couldn't save her." _

"Couldn't save who?" her voice cracked with anguish and confusion as she spoke.

"HA! You spoilt little cow, you know she didn't want you to go on that bloody expedition!" something burst within Catherine, she advanced on Charlotte.

"What are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying, this is all your fault!" she shouted at her older sister.

Tears stung in Charlotte's eyes as her sister appointed the blame, her father and the youngest of her sisters remained silent.

"You're wrong!"

"No, no I'm not, she told you not to go, she begged you Charlotte. But no! You never listen. You are so selfish! Its always about your stupid, pointless work." she spat.

Charlotte was for the first time in her life at a loss for words. Surely there could be no truth in her sisters words? It was a known fact that her mother had not wanted Charlotte to have anything to do with Charles Widmore and when she had found out about the expedition she had tried every possible way to get her daughter to stay away from it. But she had been on plenty of dangerous trips before, what was so different this time? Had her mother really been so serious about keeping whatever truths the island might have held from Charlotte?

She wanted to say she was sorry, she wanted to say that if there was anyway she could have possibly known that her mother would have taken her life when she disobeyed her that she would have stepped in line.

Catherine raised her hand to slap her sister hard around the face, their father stopped her.

"For god sake stop it this instant, Take Matilda to the canteen. I'll meet you there in a moment."

The two younger girls left with their grandfather, leaving Charlotte and her father alone.

"Do you agree with them, am I really to blame?"

She didn't receive a response.

"Dad?"

David Lewis was not her biological father. They never spoke about it, but she knew. He raised her as his own daughter and treated her just the same as he did her sisters. She loved him as a father and she never dared question her mother on the situation. Deep down she knew the life in the house they shared while growing up in Bromsgrove had all been pretend. Like a game in the playground.

"Charlotte, your mother kept secrets from both of us. I like to think… no, I need to think that she kept those secrets in order to protect us. If that is not enough for you, I'll understand and I won't stand in your way while you seek your answers. But just for now I need you to promise you will let it lye, you need to deal with your grief."

"Of course, I know that." She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"I know you, you will carry on as if nothings wrong and act as if you are fine. We all know how strong you are, it isn't a weakness to be sad." David reached out for her hand.

She regarded it coolly but did not accept the gesture, her arms remained folded.

"Go, the girls will be waiting for you."

"Alright" he sighed in defeat, "I'll contact you about the funeral."

He received a curt nod by way of response. She was left alone in the room where her mother had died.

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The wake was held in their family home. Catherine and Matilda still refused to talk to their sister, but all three were in quiet agreement that they would behave respectfully in order to honour and remember their mother.

Charlotte's heeled court shoes sunk into the damp ground as she crossed the garden, she had excused herself for a moment. The mourners were all very understanding.

She straightened her black skirt as she sat herself down on a bench. Birds in the surrounding bushes peeped and tweeted completely oblivious to the lonely girl sitting in their midst.

"May I offer you my sincerest condolences?"

Charlotte's thoughts were interrupted, she looked back over her shoulder. An elderly woman she had never seen before had followed her out. The woman's eyes were cool and unrelenting, her grey hair was tied up in a neat style.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I don't believe we are acquainted, did you know my mother well?"

The intruder sat down beside Charlotte, "Oh no, I didn't know your mother at all."

Charlotte's mouth hung open slightly, but before she could probe further into why exactly the woman was at a funeral of someone she didn't even know, the woman continued.

"I'm here to get a good look at you, I'm curious as to what it is exactly that makes you _so _special." Her slightly wrinkled hand clutched under Charlotte's chin, tilting her head to the left and right.

The red head jerked back and put some distance between herself and the peculiar lady.

"You certainly are very pretty, all be it in an unusual way, but pretty all the same. There would have to be something more though, for him to go to all this trouble, yes, he must see something in you that I do not."

Charlotte got to her feet, "I don't know who you think you are, but I think you should leave." her back now turned.

"Very well, I can respect that. Perhaps it was insensitive of me to seek you today of all days." The woman stood and crossed the garden, headed back towards the house, she came to a stop a few feet later. She raised the dark scarf she had been wearing so she could cover her head and offered a few parting words.

"He won't let you go back."

Charlotte wanted desperately to inquire into who exactly "he" was and how the woman knew she had wanted to go anywhere, she was however wary of con-merchants who prayed on the recently bereaved and she had made a promise to her father.

By the time she had decided to push these issues aside she found that she was once again alone in the garden.

After a quick look inside the house and a short exchange with her brother-in-law she had come to the conclusion that the woman had left.

The hours passed and the mourners bid farewell. Charlotte had concealed herself away in her mother's office. The room in which her father had found the collapsed body.

She sought through the books and diaries neatly stored on the shelves. The lock on the top draw of the desk gave out with little persuasion. The draw contained a number of unimportant letters, bills and something small and cold to the touch.

She reached her hand in further and grasped the object. As she bought it out to inspect it, the object slipped from her fingers and rolled under the desk out of sight.

"Oh damn it!" she exclaimed to herself.

She got down on to her knees to search for it, her fingers fitted between the desk and the carpet, they brushed the item and what felt like a piece of paper. Bringing both these findings with her she settled back into the office chair.

The first item was a ring, there was no way of confirming her suspicion that it was the ring given to her mother from her biological father and yet she knew that it was.

She placed it gently on the desk and turned her attention to the scruffy piece of paper.

Her head throbbed slightly, she knew she had seen the handwriting scrawled on it, but where? Where had she seen it?

Her mind went blank, she could not remember for the life of her so she decided it would be more productive to worry about that later and just to read it.

It was torn and burned in places, nevertheless she could make out the basic gist of it.

"_You have to listen to me, and listen very closely. No matter what, no matter the cost you have to keep her away from this place. I have to trust you with this task as I can't be the one to do it. Just know that if you fail, she will die, and that can't happen. Don't let that happen. So protect her…I love her." _

Just as with the ring she had no way of actually knowing that the letter was referring to her. The evidence, however was overwhelming, her mother had killed herself from the guilt caused by her failure to stop Charlotte from trying to go back to the island.

It was her fault.

She leant back and rubbed her temples, the guilt and the stress burned into her. On top of all these revelations there was someone out there in the world that loved her, another person she could end up causing trouble for, another she could potentially hurt with her longing to find the island.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

In spite of this she couldn't fight the gentle warmth that came with knowing she was loved enough by someone who was willing to orchestrate a plan to save her.

She didn't know whether she should have laughed with the absurdity of the situation, or to cry out with the agony of it. Always the reserved type when it came to things like this, she did neither.

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a/n: again thanking you all for the reviews and for reading and stuff.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: you know the score, i don't own any of this stuff **

**A/N: Thanks again for the reveiws XOX much appreciated.**

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The Oceanic 6 were lying. Charlotte had been sure of it since the moment they gave their first interview. Trying to find what exactly they were hiding had proved near impossible. She supposed she would have had better luck if she'd decided to seek out the arc of the Covenant instead.

Jack Shepherd had spent a few minutes listening to her and the rest of their meeting laughing and denying everything, repeating word for word the story they had originally given. He was good, didn't slip up in the slightest.

She had not been allowed to get anywhere near Kate Austin or Sayid Jarah.

Hugo Reyes kept asking if she was dead, she speculated that he wasn't the full ticket.

Sun Kwon had been the strangest meeting of them all.

Sun had stirred her beverage with a tea spoon, keeping her eyes on Charlotte.

"I am busy, I hope you understand. Allow me to be blunt, who are you and why have you been trying so hard to meet with me?"

"I wanted to ask you about where you've been." she replied in Korean.

Sun considered her momentarily, but continued the conversation in English. "Surely you have read our statements?"

"Yes, but I don't believe you." Charlotte persisted in Korean.

"Are you suggesting that I am a liar?" Sun placed her cup down on the coffee table, her hand rested on her swollen stomach.

"I am, don't worry I suspect the other Oceanic survivors as well. I'd keep it a secret, I have no interest in advertising the island to anyone. "

Sun reached into her handbag and produced her cheque book, "How much will it be then. I don't care what you are, an investigator? a con-artist? Family member of one of the dead? I want to have my child in peace and I have learnt that everyone has their price."

Charlotte sighed in defeat, she picked up her bag, "Thank you for your time, I shan't bother you again."

Everyone had a line they wouldn't cross, Charlotte was used to commiting less than noble acts to get her way but stressing out a pregnant woman would be going to far.

Sun did not shake her hand.

As she went to leave she was struck with the strangest feeling of foreboding.

In an almost unconscious motion she felt the words "Don't go back." escape from her lips, swaying on her feet slightly with the sudden dizziness in her head.

Sun regarded Charlotte with a steely reserve, unsure as to whether it was an act, "I don't know what you are talking about, leave before I call for security."

That was how Charlotte ended up laying low in a quiet bar on the Korean coast. The last thing she needed was to start any trouble with Paik Industries. People who did start trouble with that particular company were rarely seen again, alive anyway.

"Here, I recon you could do with this." A glass was placed beside her.

She told the man who had provided her with the drink that she wanted to be left alone, in Korean.

"No one is ever going to buy that you're Korean, stand out to much, know what I mean?" he stated with a hearty laugh and a gesture towards her hair.

She took a swig of the drink, keeping silent.

The new arrival sat down next to her, "Enjoy it, this bloody whiskey has been haunting me my whole life." he ordered another and downed it quickly. "It's not cheap."

"Don't you worry that you are adhering to a stereotype, a drunk Scot? Not very original is it?" Charlotte scoffed.

"Ah, Then am I supposed to think that an English ice queen is a breath of fresh air then?" he retaliated.

Charlotte softened and laughed, "Touché" she held out her glass, he clinked his with her by way of a toast.

"So drinking to forget? Drinking to fight the agony of a tormented life?"

"No not today, I am drinking to celebrate and to put the last few miserable years of my life behind me. To make way for the good times." he cheered and smiled in a way that was slightly alarming.

"What makes you so sure you have good times coming?" Charlotte's cynicism cut through his joy filled speech.

"Ah, I tell you why lassie, because I just married the woman I love, my soul mate, my bloody constant. That's why." He pointed at a Blonde woman who was waiting to use the bathroom.

Charlotte smiled and turned back to her drink, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." she murmured with an absent mind.

"What did you just say?!" fear now apparent in his eyes.

"Oh just some quote, from literature I think. I read a lot and in many different languages, you can't expect me to give you an exact citation." she waved her hand as if to dismiss the matter.

He stared, no longer looking so relaxed. If she hadn't have had as much drink as she had she would have picked up on his unease.

"I know about Eloise?" he eventually managed to stutter out.

"Excuse me? Who the hell is Eloise?"

"So you don't know Daniel Faraday then?" he did not sound convinced.

"Daniel? The one with the…eyes?" she has almost said "the one with the nice eyes?" The exhausting day she had suffered and the amount of drink she had ingested offered justification for such a thought. These things considered she was still unable to fight the very minor blush afflicting her cheeks.

"Aye, he's got eyes. You going to be alright?" he changed the subject.

"Yes, absolutely fine, I can't believe I just said that."

"Why are you sitting all alone in a dark little dive like this? It's why I came over, I just gotta know."

"I've been looking for answers."

"Ah well there you go then, ya see there are some question's that aren't supposed to be answered, when you learn that you'll just get on with your life and then you'll know that its never worth putting your life on hold for some _great purpose_." sarcasm apparent with his last words.

"As fascinating as it has been philosophising with you, I fear that if I keep you from your new wife for even a moment longer that I will never be able to live with myself." she gave a grateful smile and thanked him for the drink.

The blonde woman was ushering the man away, whispering in his ear something that eased the fear off of his face, replacing it with a peaceful happiness.

Charlotte ducked her head down, she was sure that the new bride was Penelope Widmore. Charles Widmore was another dangerous person she felt it best to avoid at the moment.

"G'night, I'm off to live the rest of my life." He announced to the other and rather more miserable patrons. Leaving them to their thoughts, The happy couple slipped out the door.

Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned from the man's cheerful ranting.

Her eyes went wide.

Damn it, damn it, damn it, she should have pressed the mention of "Daniel Faraday" further. She could have bashed her head on the bar with the frustration of it all. Maybe she would never learn.

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**A/N: thanks for reading this chapter, next one shouldn't be too far away. Review XX**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: don't own any of this stuff.

Thanks again for reviews and story watched and stuff ;D, always take great joy in recieving them

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It was raining outside, Charlotte tried to focus on listening to it as she lay in her bed. It wasn't working. She had woken in a cold sweat, her sleep had been rudely interrupted for the third night in a row by strange dreams.

This time she had been standing on a beach pouring cereal into two bowls. She had then cut up mango's and put them in with the cereal. There were strangers peering out of their little tents, staring and whispering to each other about her. It wasn't a nice feeling, being judged in a bizarre place.

A short woman had the audacity to approach her. "You and your friend might be having fun playing house, but this is our home so we'll be watching you."

"Really? I hadn't noticed you've all been so subtle and welcoming, and I'm having _tonnes of fun_, this was exactly what I had in mind when I came all the way out here." She had picked up the bowls, held her head up high and strode towards a make shift dwelling built from tarpaulin and what she could only guess was some shrapnel from a plane or boat.

Once inside, she sat herself down on a mess of blankets, somehow aware that it was _her _bed in this shoddy little abode.

"We need to trek out to the Tempest station tonight, you said that the gas needs to be neutralized." She put her hand on a sleeping man's shoulder and shook it.

"Yeah, okay, I remember."

After the first and second dream she was no longer surprised to see that Daniel Faraday had a staring role.

He sat up and turned to face her, "Explain again why we have to go so early…late, whatever it is."

"Because they don't trust us, so we have to sneak out like disobedient teenagers. Bloody ingrates!" She handed him a bowl

"We're having cereal at night?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh well, you see the steak is still marinating and the apple crumble hasn't finished cooking yet." she clucked sarcastically.

"Right, right, sorry, this looks great… thank you." he smiled apologetically.

He wasn't frightened of her, she liked that

"Don't get used to it." she grinned. "I suppose if _they_ had their way we'd be tied to a post with a bowl of water between us."

"They are probably just frightened or something, try not to judge them too hard."

"Easy for you to say, one of them didn't try to shoot you."

Dan's face was stricken with a severely concerned look, "They shot at you?"

She nodded in response and leant forward to show him the bruises just below her collar bone, in need of some positive attention. He put his bowl down beside him and brushed his fingers lightly over her blemished flesh, even in her dream she was embarrassingly aware of how much she liked it when he touched her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his brow furrowed and worry apparent in his dark eyes.

That was when she had woken, alone in her bed in her apartment in England.

The matter concerning her was not that she hadn't understood half of the things she had been talking about, but the fact that it hadn't felt like a dream at all.

It had felt as if she was getting a glance into what could have been if she had stayed on the freighter.

Sure it had been frightening to be shot, and unpleasant to be glared at by hostile strangers on the other had it seemed as if she wouldn't have had a completely terrible time. Could it really be true that she was to die on that island?

Concluding that sleep would not be returning anytime soon, she rolled out of bed and went to get a drink.

She poured a glass of milk and hoisted herself up on to the kitchen counter.

It was always too quiet here, it amplified the sound of the rain on the windows.

The silence was shattered by the high pitched ringing of her mobile phone. Charlotte dropped down off of the counter and set about finding it.

Maybe it was Georgina, phoning to explain why she had not been round to pick up the documents she had insisted that Charlotte translate for her immediately. She looked under the documents on the table, on the sofa, in her coat pocket and finally in her bag, success!

It was flashing the "unknown caller" message.

"Hello?"

"Uh…Hi, um, you said to ring you when I got back, So…"

For a few fleeting moments she found that she could not catch her breath, "Where are you?"

There was no need to ask who it was, she had been having many imaginary conversations with him in her head and dreams.

"Heathrow."

"Stay there, I'm coming to get you." she hung up, took a deep breath and dashed back to her bedroom, pulling off her pyjama's as she went.

What exactly do you wear when going to pick up a stranger that you've developed a completely irrational crush on? No time to dwell on that thought.

She grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt and dressed quickly. As she stepped into her boots she tied her hair up and put on her jacket. Hoping she looked at least half presentable as she made a dash for the front door grabbing her car keys and bag as she went.

* * *

The airport terminal was quiet, most people had been more sensible then to book flights that came in at 1 am. There were a few business sorts and a collection of families who must have booked cheap flights. She scanned her eyes around and cautiously approached a man sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"Daniel?"

He was sitting with his bags, he looked up and smiled, his head drooped slightly.

Charlotte was slightly shocked by his appearance. A huge bruise was visible on his cheek, there was a cut on his forehead and dirt on his clothes. She also noticed that his left hand was bound in a bandage.

She sunk down on to her knees in front of him, placed her hand on his chin and tilted his head up. He was clearly extremely fatigued.

"What happened to you?" she whispered as she nervously wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into an embrace, being careful not to hurt him.

He placed his right hand on the small of her back, "Island living…turns out its not as relaxing as you might think."

"You came straight here?"

"Yeah. It's so good to see you." he breathed.

To any passer by they would have looked like old friends, lovers even, reunited at last after a painful separation. In a way it felt like that. Charlotte knew that it was insane and yet it still felt like the truth.

"Are you a crazy man?" she asked, pulling back so she could look into his eyes.

He laughed, "That's the general consensus." his head swooned slightly again.

"I thought Physicists were supposed to be clever." she said mostly to herself. Charlotte got to her feet, heaving him up with her. It was fortunate that she was strong and he was slight. She put her arm under his and held onto his waist, and somehow managed to sling his bag over her shoulder.

"Come on, lets get you out of here."

They got back to the car and set off. Daniel began explaining what had happened, he confirmed her theory that the Oceanic 6 had in fact been on the island.

"…But then one of them killed Naomi, and…and."

"Dan, relax, we have time enough, you can tell me later." Charlotte said softly, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove back to her apartment.

He did relax, "We have time." he repeated to himself as if it was the greatest piece of news he had ever been given.

"What happened to you hand?" she asked chancing a quick glance at it.

"The Oceanic survivors, well, they weren't too trusting and an angry Korean man broke my fingers."

Charlotte didn't say anything, she felt excruciatingly angry. It was as if she knew that if she had been there she could have looked out for him.

"Why, it doesn't seem like you did anything to deserve that." she said after a moment of silence.

"I think he was just worried about his wife. Frank, the helicopter pilot, managed to take a few of them off the island in a helicopter. But the freighter, sort of blew up."

"So I guess that means we won't be getting my books and your equipment back then." she laughed darkly, "They made it back, but they've been lying about where they've been."

Daniel nodded, "Probably a good idea, Widmore was going to have everyone killed."

"He doesn't know that I wasn't on the boat and he doesn't need to know that you are back. I think we should stay out of his radar, my mother didn't trust him and I think I should have listened to her." She had been trying not to think about her mother.

Daniel stared out of the window, he gave a nod in agreement but seemed to be distracted all of a sudden.

"Look, its going to be another half an hour until we get back to mine, so try and get some rest." Charlotte advised.

"It's okay, I'm fine, I can talk." he protested.

"Dan, I live on the forth floor and the lift is broken, if you think I'm going to haul you up four flights of stairs then you are sorely mistaken." She grinned and glanced across, he was already asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff.

A/N: Your reviews are epic everyone XX, I wrote this chapter, or some of it, after watching Lafleur (Lost airs on Sunday in England) and OMG poor Faraday is breaking my heart all over again.

* * *

Charlotte was thoroughly enjoying the novelty of the company of another person, she had recently locked herself away from all but her colleagues.

The duo walked towards her apartment building.

"Probably used to warmer pastures?" Charlotte stated as the rain pattered down on them.

"Heh, yeah, but I prefer it here, trust me."

Daniel rolled down his sleeves for extra warmth, The fabric ripped.

"Have you got any other clothes?" She asked, moving a little closer to him so she could shield him from the wind slightly.

"Uh, I bought some at the airport." He shivered, it had been along time since he had been in England and he had forgotten how ridiculous the weather could be.

"Did they have a Tie Rack?" she continued, her amusement barely concealed.

He looked down and the meagre remains of his tie, it was tattered, torn and filthy.

"They did, actually yeah so that was lucky."

Charlotte grinned widely and he forgot all about feeling cold.

She hadn't been joking about the lift, his body ached as they climbed the stairs. He didn't care, he'd climb forever if she was standing right beside him.

Charlotte raided her bag until she found her keys, she held the door to her flat open for him.

"Make yourself at home."

"Charlotte, this is…nice of you, letting me stay here I mean." He sized up the place. It was tidy except for the endless amounts of books strewn across her dining table and the abandoned nightwear on the floor. He also noticed the muddy excavation tools in a box in a corner.

"Oh come now, you get on a plane to England just to…to come to see me, it's the least I can offer you." She busied herself by stacking up the books and throwing her clothes out of site.

Daniel watched as she functioned, filled with life and reality. He could have watched her endlessly but figured that she might get freaked out eventually.

"Can I use your shower, I probably smell…uh…not great." He scratched the back of his neck, now aware of how shabby he must look.

"Of course, I'll make us some tea." Neither of them moved, they just kept their eyes locked on one another's.

Dan waved his hands in a half shrug. "Where…"

"Ah Right, its that door there." she pointed to the bathroom feeling a little embarrassed.

He turned on the ball of his foot and shut the door behind him.

Charlotte set about fixing the tea, she hoped she had biscuits. She did, nothing fancy but biscuits all the same. She put the mugs and biscuits down on her coffee table and tried to wait patiently on the sofa.

Time seemed to slow for Charlotte, she fidgeted on her sofa tucking her legs up underneath her.

Daniel returned dressed in clean clothes and a new tie, she smirked. He was drying his hair on a towel.

She noticed he had removed his bandage.

"Let me see your hand."

He obeyed and came to sit with her. She took his hand cautiously in her own.

"I think they are fixed, just bruised. The doctor, Juliet, she set them for me and injuries seemed to heal quickly on the island."

"Juliet? I don't remember seeing that name on the flight manifest." she said still inspecting his fingers, they had been required to take a first aid course before getting on the freighter, along with parachute training strangely enough. She made a mental note to ask about whether or not that came in handy later.

"She was there before the Oceanic plane crashed." he took his cup with his free hand and sipped his tea.

"It seems as though you have many stories to tell me, can you move your fingers?" she relished in talking to someone who at least semi-understood what she was going on about.

He wiggled them slightly, wincing with pain slightly as he did.

"Okay, I think you will live." she smiled, still holding his hand in hers. "I'll put another bandage on, just to be safe."

Placing his hand down on to the sofa softly, she got up and fetched a bandage from her medical cupboard.

They both drank their tea and ate some of the biscuits while she continued to fix him up.

As he they shared specifics about what they did in life and how it had led them to seeking the Island she noticed that he was constantly reaching out and touching her. His hand on her shoulder, brushing her hair back, cupping her cheek. Charlotte loved it!

The other people in the world kept their distance from her, she had always blamed herself for this. Constantly putting it down to the fact that people found her cold.

She couldn't take her eyes off of his strange mannerisms, he was captivating and she knew she was getting sucked in.

Daniel had been a professor at Oxford, she had been a student. She tried in vain to search her memory for anytime in which they might have passed each other in a hall or caught each others eyes.

"Charlotte?" he waved his hand in front of her face, her eyes had glazed slightly as she racked her brain.

Maybe that's why he seemed familiar, perhaps they had met before.

"When you say my name, its as if you've said it a thousand times before." she scanned his face for a reaction.

He looked guilty. His eyes glancing up to the left and then back to hers. "I don't know how I can even begin to explain all the things that have led up to this moment right here."

"What?"

"But you deserve to know the truth so…what do you want to know about first?" he asked.

The atmosphere was intense. Nerves gripped her entire body. She didn't have to demand answers, he was going to give them to her. There was pain hidden in his eyes and she knew she was not ready, she would ask in the light of day.

If he answered all her questions, unravled the mystery of the Island then she would have to face the fact that she had wasted a vast segment of her life searching for a bloody island. She felt ridiculous.

"Its 2 in the morning, you have been beaten up and you are most likely jet lagged. You are going to bed and we can talk in the morning." she commanded.

"Charlo…." he began.

"No objections!" she interrupted.

Charlotte picked up the empty mugs and took them through to the kitchen where she abandoned them in the sink.

Upon her return she found that Daniel had passed out again.

She went into her room and pulled back the covers on her bed. Upon returning to the living room she hooked her arms under Daniels and dragged him to her room. Whilst stepping backwards on to her bed she slipped and fell with him on top of her. She was glad he was out cold as her face was turning as red as her hair, she pushed him on to his back and tucked him into her bed.

She lay beside him for a while so she could get a better look. It was her turn to brush a few stray hairs off of his forehead. His hair was so dark, tainted with a few grey hairs here and there. She figured he must be about 40, he looked younger. There was definitely something sweet, almost boyish, about him. He must have his own dark secrets, she thought, but who doesn't.

"Goodnight Dan," she kissed his forehead, sat up and climbed down from her bed. She took a blanket from the cupboard and went to sleep on the sofa.

Her sleep was interrupted again at about 5.23 am. Daniel was shouting out her name.

Bursting into her bedroom in an adrenalin fuelled surge, she found that even in the distorted light of the breaking dawn that she could see the tears streaking down his face.

"Dan!? Are you alright? What's the matter?"

He was sobbing uncontrollably, "I woke up and I…I thought and…I couldn't…You were gone again and…Never see you again…I can't bare it!"

She was concerned that he was going to hyperventilate. Charlotte's fail save method for dealing with a panicked soul was to administer a firm slap to the face and to tell them to get a grip.

However, this man, this strange man in her bed had somehow obtained the ability to bring out the best in her.

So instead of slapping him, she climbed on to the bed next to him and pulled his head against her chest and held him there.

He wrapped his arms around her waist fiercely, causing her breath to hitch slightly.

"Calm down, everything Is okay, I'm right here." she brushed the tears off of his face with her thumb. Daniel was going to have to eventually explain exactly what he meant by "you were gone again". Charlotte had a sneaking suspicion that he was not referring to the parting on the freighter.

He did calm, but did not relinquish his grip on her. It was as if he was worried that she might disappear.

"Lie down. I'm not going to go anywhere." she spoke softly.

He did as he was told, she lay beside him. They had slept close together in her dreams of the Island so she didn't see any problem with it, her lips quirked into a quick smile when she consider her weak justification. The truth was she would stay here in his arms because she wanted to, and that the sofa wasn't very comfortable.

The sofa being uncomfortable was no excuse for her next move though. She kissed his lips. Daniel seemed surprised but returned the motion without a moments hesitation and with a little more passion and hunger than she had anticipated.

"Now, go to sleep and stop messing around." she murmured as they broke apart. "And at a more reasonable time of the morning I shall make you some breakfast."

He smiled contently and allowed his eyes to shut. "No mango's, thanks."

"Hmph, oh give it a rest. If the Island had a bloody bakery then we would have had croissants, but weirdly enough there wasn't one." she was glad he was asleep again as she didn't even fully comprehend what she had just said. Surely there was no way he could have known about her dream.

Charlotte pressed her nose against his and kept close, suddenly feeling peculiarly placated herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff.

A/N: again endless thanks for the reviews, they make me very happy :D

* * *

The morning light was struggling to break through the blinds, it was still grey and raining outside. Charlotte opened one eye to check the time, it was almost 10.30 am.

She groaned slightly, not wanting to get up just yet.

Daniel's head was resting on her shoulder her nose buried in his hair, his broken hand resting on her stomach and his undamaged fingers entangled with her own.

She was surprised with herself, with how quickly she had adapted to having him close to her. There was a selfish longing in her that wanted to keep him to herself now.

What if he had a wife? Or children? A life in America to return to? Somewhere inside she knew that this was unlikely. People with things worth living for didn't run off on strange missions to bizarre islands. While it was sad to think that his life might be as empty as hers she couldn't deny that she was pleased and hopeful that he would be able to stay with her.

Her hair was all over the place, she must have lost her hair band in the sheets somewhere.

The sleeping physicist stirred giving a slight groan himself.

"Morning." she said stroking his hair with her free hand.

"Charlotte."

"Yup."

"So this…this is all real? Really real?" He grinned up at her.

"As far as I'm aware." She gave him a smile.

"Good…that's good, better than good." He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Dan?" Charlotte found that her throat was constricting slightly, making it difficult for her to form the words she knew she had to ask. If she didn't ask him now she knew that she never would.

"Yeah?" He gazed down on her as she lay still on her back, one arm now bent under her head.

"Tell me how I died." came her request, her tone was casual as if it were a perfectly acceptable question to ask.

He moved his head back slowly, eyes wide with fear. "No, no…no, Charlotte, How did you…"

"I found a letter, addressed to my recently deceased mother. It said that if I went back to the island that I would die. Then I started having these dreams about being back on the island and you were there. So I figured if I ever did _somehow _end up on the island that you might know how I died, but then I saw it in your eyes and I _know_ you were with me." The red headed girl did not move, she was acting as if she was completely relaxed when deep down she was crippled with fear.

Surely he would think she was insane, she wouldn't blame him if he ran out on her, never to return.

Daniel closed his eyes as tightly as he could, taking a deep breath, he confirmed her suspicion. "You and I were in the jungle, You were laying down, just like you are now. I took your hand in mine." his eyes were still shut as he forced himself to remember.

He took her hand in his again, she gave his hand a squeeze encouraging him to continue. "We were talking, the things you were saying were frightening and they didn't make any sense. Your brilliant brain was failing, blood poured from your nose and mouth covering your beautiful face."

His story was interrupted by a sob he could not control, he shook his head and soldiered on. "I tried to tell you that everything was going to be okay, the way I promised it would be. Then…then…you told me that you weren't allowed to have chocolate before dinner… And I lost you, your face fell to the side and you stopped breathing. In that moment…all the light in the world went out."

Charlotte remained silent, taking in everything he had said. "How dramatic. You were my friend, must have been horrible for you."

He opened his eyes, clearly unsure of what to say next. "I can't stand it, sometimes when I close my eyes I can still see your eyes, devoid of life and empty, it makes everything so cold."

"Cheer up, things are different now." she propped herself up on her elbows, deliberately widening and moving her eyes to try and reassure him. "Whoever wrote that letter to my mum was looking out for me, its just a pity I didn't listen to her."

He tentatively leant forward, pausing nervously before placing a delicate kiss on her cheek.

"Right, I think that's quite enough angst for one morning. How about some breakfast?"

Daniel nodded gratefully.

* * *

Charlotte's cupboards weren't really equipped for providing an impressive breakfast. She would usually just grab a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast, but she wanted to offer something more substantial, he must be starving.

"I'm rubbish at pancakes, um, would you make do with scrambled eggs. I can just about manage those?"

"Uh, that would be great, thank you."

Daniel gratefully started to devour his breakfast, it was the first proper meal he had had in ages.

Charlotte poured him a glass of orange juice and started to eat her own breakfast. It was an unusually domesticated scenario, she found it comforting in the midst of trying to comprehend alternate realities or time lines, in which she had suffered a terrifying death.

She had spent most of her life fine tuning and advancing her brain with her work, shoving in as much information as she could handle. For a brain aneurism to be the cause of her death was almost enough to break her heart, it had shaken and shocked her harder than she had first thought.

There was a knock at the front door. Charlotte furrowed her brow and placed her fork down on the table.

"Excuse me for a moment." she went to open the door, no one ever came to visit her.

It was her colleague, Georgina.

"You were supposed to pick up those documents yesterday." Charlotte stated curtly.

"Sorry, sorry, I was busy." Georgina strode in, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed Daniel.

"I didn't know you had a guest." she said, surprise apparent in her voice.

"This is Daniel, he's a friend of mine. He's just came back from a holiday ."

"Really?"

"Yes." Charlotte was agitated by the disbelieve in her co-worker's voice, was it really so hard to comprehend that she might have other people in her life? "Dan, this is Georgina, I work with her sometimes."

Charlotte fetched the documents and handed them over.

"Hi." he said with a slight wave. Georgina smiled at him and then at Charlotte.

Charlotte knew exactly what the intruder was thinking, she had to admith that she could see how the situation could be construed in that way. They were having breakfast with dishevelled hair and clothing.

"How come you've never mentioned him before?" Georgina whispered as Charlotte guided back towards the front door.

"Because its none of your business, now if you'll excuse us you are actually interrupting our breakfast."

Georgina peered over Charlotte's shoulder to wave goodbye to Daniel, she had the door closed on her. Nosy madam would probably spread it around to their other colleagues, Charlotte found that she didn't mind. It might be nice if they thought Daniel was her boyfriend.

"I'm not keeping you from any work am I?" he asked as Charlotte rejoined him at the table.

"No, I've not got much on at the moment to be honest and even if I did it could wait."

"Oh I forgot, I have a sort of…gift for you." Daniel finished his food and looked around for his bag.

Charlotte smiled, maybe he got her a toblerone from the duty free.

He returned with a flat, square package. Toblerone's were triangle shaped so it couldn't have been one of those. "Good deduction Charlotte" she thought to herself sarcastically.

Her blue eyes looked up at his eyes as he passed it over to her. "Heh, thanks, what is it?"

Tearing open the paper with eager eyes, her jaw dropped. "Oh my god! Geronimo Jackson!" she gasped, holding the record in her hands.

"It wasn't easy to get a hold of I can assure you." he chuckled slightly, amused by the joy bursting out of her.

"Dan!! My whole life I thought I imagined them!! They were my favourite band but my mum told me they weren't even real and none of the shops had ever heard of them so I thought..." there were tears present in her eyes but she concealed it well. "This is hands down the greatest present I have ever received. Thank you!"

Placing the record down carefully on the table, she stood up and went to hug him.

"I'm glad you like it." he smiled warmly and readily accepted her embrace. She held on for just a little too long and squeezed him a bit too tight.

"I'll just go and brush my teeth." he said as she eventually released him. Taking a toothbrush from his bag he made his way to the bathroom.

Charlotte felt almost giddy, of course she would have to get a record player from somewhere but that didn't matter, she was sure her dad had one hidden away up in the loft somewhere.

Geronimo Jackson were real and she was slightly less crazy, the songs she used to dance around to when she was an excited little girl were back in her life. Her heart felt as if it was going to overflow and it was all because of Daniel, sweet, slightly crazy Daniel who had reunited her with a peice of her forgotten past.

As she set about clearing the table her foot knocked Daniel's bag over.

A book fell out and opened up, she knelt down to pick it up. As she did one of the pages caught her eye.

"_If any thing goes wrong Desmond Hume will be my constant_." it was written on the page where she had jotted down her phone number for him. That's where she had read that, she briefly enjoyed the revelation before her eyes shot back to the book. Suddenly striken with a second and far more outrageous revelation. She flicked through it and realised that she recognised the hand writing.

He was the one, the one who had orchestrated the plan to protect her.

"It was you all along!?" she gasped as she stood in the doorway to the bathroom. Unsure whether she should have been furious or flattered and yet knowing it was the latter she felt.

Daniel had a mouthful of toothpaste, he discreetly tried to spit it out.

"The letter was from you?"

He nodded, that guilty look back on his face. "Yes, I gave it to your mom when I met you both in the 1970's."

Charlotte gave him a confused look.

"Time travel, uh, difficult to explain." he stuttered, and then quickly rinsed his mouth. "I'm not sorry, I'd do it again, a thousand times over. I mean I am sorry about your mom, but not about stopping you from going to the island."

The corners of Charlotte's mouth flicked up slightly, "You did it because…you loved me?" she thought of how reading those words on that letter had made her feel.

Daniel looked down at his feet, "Not exactly."

"Oh right." her eyes cast downwards too now, feeling humiliated but desperate not to show it.

"Because, you see, uh, 'Loved' would imply past tense." Daniel looked up, catching her eyes.

His adoration for her laid bare, he was hers for the taking and she never passed up chances to seize rare treasures.


	7. The end

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Dislcaimer: i don't own this stuff.

**a/n: okay, so, final chapter thanks for reading everyone! i really appreciate it and double thanks to those who reviewed. XXXXX**

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**3 months later…**

"What does it do?" Charlotte asked, she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed under her chest.

"It's a pendulum, it swings back and forth." Daniel was standing across the other side of the room next to a computer.

"So you bought me down here to hypnotise me?" Charlotte queried sarcastically, she glared at him and then at the computer. "That computer is calculating longitude and latitude."

"Nope, it's a… uh…a screensaver." he attempted weakly.

Charlotte laughed, "Don't forget that I can tell when you are lying Daniel, and that i'm not an idiot."

"Right, right, okay here we go." he moved away from the computer.

Charlotte stood to attention, she could anticipate a "Dan lecture" a mile off.

"I bought you down here because, as you saw on the door, it's a Dharma station and I thought you would appreciate a trip to one." he begun, walking around the pendulum.

She nodded gratefully, it had been rather thrilling to see the "Lamp Post" logo. She had only seen the Hydra one she had found in Tunisia and the sketches Daniel had collected for her from his time on the island.

"That was very thoughtful of you. Only you would bring me to a place like this Dan." she smiled as her eyes focused the pendulum.

"Take a look at the map on the floor." he instructed pointing towards it with both hands.

"A world map, with scribbles on it?"

"Yeah, the pendulum, its kind of marking the map so that they can deduce when and where the island is going to be." He looked up to watch her reaction. Charlotte's eyebrows quirked.

"Why is it down here? This place is special?"

Daniel swallowed nervously, he didn't like it when she used any sentence with "this place is…" in it, it still frightened him, but he didn't want to talk about that terrible day anymore so he carried on talking. "Its built on top of a pocket of electromagnetic energy, like the place you went to in Tunisia, and the Island of course. There are a few special places like this one dotted around the world."

Daniel stopped moving around, he took out a book from a draw and continued, "Here's where they record the uh… I guess they are like "windows" sort of, and if someone were to take advantage of this and fly through one of these windows they could get back to the island. Charlotte there is a window in two days." he moved his hand miming the flight of an aeroplane.

"Oh well, we'll be heading off to Egypt by then." she shrugged waving it of as if were just a casual suggestion for a vacation.

"You are sure, absolutely 100% sure? I just had to check. I couldn't live with myself if keeping you from the island would make you miserable."

"Dan, I made up my mind ages ago." Charlotte strode the rest of the way around the pendulum so she could take his hands.

He heaved a relieved sigh, "Sorry, sorry, I needed to…"

"Foolish man, do you honestly not know how much I love you?" Charlotte slid her arms around his neck so she could guide him into a kiss. He grazed her lips with his own before deepening her kiss, enjoying the way her heartbeat increased. Daniel could feel it pounding against his chest, another blissful reminder that she lives and breathes. It caused his own heart rate to accelerate.

He held her tightly round her middle, she stepped back slightly to steady herself but didn't get far, " Just so you know… I wasn't going to let you go back, I was just making sure that _this _is what you really want."

"And people think I'm sneaky." she laughed resting her chin on his shoulder and pressing a kiss onto his cheek.

In their time together over the last few months Charlotte had discovered that Daniel was an incredibly kind and patient man, he would let her have her way most of the time and never even complain. He seemed content just to be with her, he had even mastered the art of reeling her in when her attitude got a little out of control, Dan was the only man she would let get away with that.

She knew, however, that if she ever tried to go back to the island that it would be a step to far and she would lose him. That was something that she would never let happen, it was her choice. When it really came down to it, choosing between Daniel and the Island, it had been the easiest decision of her life.

Sometime she could tell that he felt almost guilty about keeping her from going "home", she figured that's why he told her everything he could remember and showed her anything even remotely related to the island.

"Dan, what would happen if I stopped the pendulum swinging." her eyes were transfixed on it again, she wondered if it would do something incredibly dramatic or apocalyptic.

"Not much, they'd just have to reset everything. My mom would probably tell you off though." Dan was absently fiddling with a curl of her hair.

"She came to see me, your mum, the day of my mothers funeral. Of course I didn't know who she was at the time."

Daniel furrowed his brow, "I wonder why she did that?"

"Wanted to check if I was worth all the trouble, I don't think she was too impressed with me to be honest."

"Heh, she isn't impressed by anything." he kissed the top of her head. "You are worth the trouble, by the way."

Charlotte playfully nudged him in the rib at the accusation that she continued to be troublesome.

She manoeuvred her arm so she could look at her watch. "It's a quarter to midnight, we need to get going or it'll be bad luck!"

They both laughed. Neither of them were superstitious but after everything that had happened to them they were adamant about covering all of their bases.

Daniel would be staying at his mothers tonight, while Charlotte would be returning to the hotel.

"Goodnight, I'll see you here tomorrow." Charlotte grinned, they kissed each other goodnight and separately left the church. It was to be the first night they had not spent together since he had returned from the island.

* * *

David had arrived while Charlotte was still getting ready. Catherine and Matilda were not with him, he told her he wasn't sure if they were coming. Charlotte was disappointed but she wouldn't let her father know.

"I'm sorry, I really thought they would come with me. They don't blame you anymore, not really." he informed her as he placed the gifts he had bought with him down on the table with the other presents.

"It doesn't matter," she sighed as she dragged her brush through her hair. "It's a long way to travel anyway."

"Hmph, They should be here with you today."

"So should mum, but things don't always go the way they should." Charlotte went about fixing up her hair, pining it up into a complicated and precise style.

"She would have been so thrilled." David smiled, Charlotte glanced back at him in the mirror and rolled her eyes.

"Your mother was always immensely proud of you, you achieved more than she ever dreamed you would. I know that she would have been prouder of you today than any of the other defining moments of your life." he stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ha! What about the awards I won? All of my academic achievements, those not impressive enough?" she scoffed.

"Charlotte seeing you truly happy and in love, well it renders all those other things pale in comparison. Its what we really wanted, just for you to be happy."

"Even if my happiness came in an American form?" she joked as she applied her lipstick.

"Hah, I think she would have made an exception this time." they exchanged amused looks.

"Dad? Could you help me with this?" Charlotte asked as she struggled to attach her veil. David obliged, fixed it to her hair neatly and straightened it out.

Charlotte got to her feet and went to check her appearance in the full length mirror.

"This is a good look for me, just a shame its too impractical to wear more often." she smoothed the soft fabric of her long white dress out.

"Are you ready to go?" Her father handed her the bouquet of flowers that had been resting in a box on her bed.

Charlotte had never been the type of girl to dream about weddings, she had always been to busy with other pursuits. If she had taken the time to dream one up she suspected it would be exactly the way it was playing out.

Catherine and Matilda had decided to attend after all, they were sitting with her grandfather and Catherine's husband in the front row to the left. This pleased Charlotte, they were willing to come and support her even after everything that had torn them apart.

Her co-workers would not have flown to L.A to attend so she hadn't bothered inviting them.

Eloise Hawking was sitting with a small group of people, Charlotte assumed they must have been members of Daniel's extended family as she knew he didn't have any siblings, she was also aware that a majority of his friends had abandoned him after the incident with Theresa.

It was a meagre congregation, but she honestly didn't care. The only person who mattered was standing waiting for her at the alter. As the music begun to play, David led her down the aisle and gave her away.

Dan gave her a warm smile as he lifted her veil.

"New tie?" she asked.

"Uh yeah, well its special occasion after all. You look…amazing."

"Thanks, I scrub up alright don't I?"

The ceremony proceeded.

* * *

Charlotte and Daniel had chosen Egypt for their honeymoon for a number of reasons. Daniel's reluctance to visit anywhere remotely islandish in nature and Charlotte's love for lost cultures being the two main factors.

They had also decided to travel by boat. Charlotte had insisted upon this as they would get to travel up the Nile. Boats also offered a certain symbolism for them, after all they had first met on a boat.

"Here we are again." Charlotte observed as they watched the American coast line fade into the distance, replaced with nothing but ocean. "No phone call is going to drag me away this time."

"I hope this boat doesn't blow up like the other one." Dan was glancing around nervously.

"That's a cheerful note to start our honeymoon on, Dan." Charlotte leant against the railing, she threw her head back as she laughed.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close.

Charlotte put her arm around his waist. She was ecstatic, even more so than the day they had met on the freighter. Only now she was no longer worried about all the years she had wasted searching for that bloody Island, because in the end she had found something better, something worth sacrificing for.

The end

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A/N: thanks again everyone :D, i thought momentarily about going down an angsty path with the end of this story, but i couldn't bring myself to be so cruel. Dan and Charlotte deserve a happy ending, even if its just in a fanfic. XXX


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